Jessica is Executive Editor of Business & Commercial Aviation magazine. She started as Editor of ShowNews Online, Aviation Week's on-site trade show daily published at the Paris Air Show, NBAA Annual Convention, Singapore Air Show and at other significant aerospace gatherings.
Jessica has worked in television production and management consulting. While not yet a licensed pilot, Ms. Salerno has received flight instruction and has soloed.
A decade after Congress mandated that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) adopt new repair station security rules, the agency is finally issuing them and effectively lifting a five year ban on certification of new foreign repair stations. In that time, the number of repair stations awaiting FAA certification had grown to more than 90. The final rule applies to some 4,700 Part 145 FAA-certified repair stations. But in a major concession to both industry wishes and general practicality, not all of its elements apply to every facility.
Greenpoint Technologies has been tapped by an undisclosed customer for a second time to outfit a Boeing 787 Dreamliner with a VIP interior. The Kirkland, Wash., outfit says it spent five years learning about the airplane and visiting the nearby Boeing plant in preparing to work on the new model. Now 25 years old, Greenpoint works on Boeing aircraft exclusively. The company provides all-encompassing completion service including in-house engineering and design to manufacturing and installation of VIP interiors.
Wheels Up, the membership-based private aviation company founded last summer, remains “slightly ahead of plans” with 150 members signing on in its first few months of operation and finishing the year with nine aircraft in service, says founder and CEO Kenny Dichter. The company launched with a firm order for 35 Beechcraft King Air 350s and options for up to 70 more, the largest commercial order ever for the twin turboprop aircraft.“We're just getting started,” says Dichter, who believes the company is on pace to top 250 members shortly.
